independent contractor
The Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law makes it very difficult for companies to legally hire individuals as contractors and not employees. There is a three part test that most companies can’t meet.
The Three Part Independent Contractor Test
The company must show:
1. The individual is free from direction and control;
2. The service is performed outside the usual course of the company’s business; and
3. The individual is engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business of the same nature as that involved

Many companies and individual workers in Massachusetts are still clinging to certain myths about classifying workers as independent contractors. Here are the top six often held, but misguided beliefs:
I signed a contract that says I am an independent contractor, so I must be one, right? (Actually, employers cannot avoid the obligation to properly classify workers simply by using language in a contract. The burden is still on the employer to show that the relationship with the individual meets the three part test in M.G.L. c. 149 sec. 148B).
The standard in our industry/profession

The Massachusetts independent contractor law restricts employers from classifying workers as independent contractors unless the employer can show (1) that the individual is free from direction and control, (2) the service is performed outside of the usual course of the company’s business and (3) the individual is engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business of the same nature as that involved in the service performed. It doesn’t matter that the individual agreed to be an independent contractor or even signed a contract that said that the

Since Massachusetts amended its laws in 2004, it has been very difficult for companies to legitimately treat workers as independent contractors. Although many companies have now put those “independent contractors” on the payroll, many still have not.
For a worker to be an independent contractor in Massachusetts, that worker would have to meet the following test:
1. The individual has been and will continue to be free from control and direction in connection with the performance under the contract.
2. The worker’s services are performed outside the usual course of busi

If you are working for a company in Massachusetts, it is more likely than not that you should be treated as an employee with benefits, rather than an independent contractor without benefits and with lower pay. Why should you care if you are given a 1099 and your employer classifies you as an independent contractor? Workers who are treated as independent contractors often don’t have the same benefits as employees and they can be left without worker’s compensation insurance if they are injured on the job, and without unemployment benefits if they are laid off.
The Massachusetts

Employees’ complaints concerning wage and hour laws, including nonpayment of wages, misclassification of employees, record-keeping violations and failure to pay the prevailing wage have resulted in numerous recent investigations and citations by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office (“AG”). A Rhode Island Construction Company has agreed to pay over $66,000 in restitution and fines for failure to pay the prevailing wage on Massachusetts projects. A Norwood car dealership was required to pay $280,000 in restitution, as well as a $7,500 penalt

Welcome and thank you for visiting our Massachusetts employment blog. We are Boston employment lawyers, located on Beacon Hill. We represent individual employees in workplace matters. We handle sexual harassment, age discrimination, racial discrimination and other discrimination cases. Our firm has successfully recovered overtime pay, wages, tips and commissions for employees. We represent executives and other professionals who are transitioning out of their jobs. We have successfully resolved glass ceiling and failure to promote cases. We represent individuals in biotechnology,